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City proceeds with controversial McGuinness Boulevard redesign despite opposition
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Aug 20, 2024
Modified Aug 21, 2024
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By
Stephen Nessen
Published Aug 20, 2024
Modified Aug 21, 2024
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New York City is planning to move forward with a controversial street redesign of the second half of McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, despite objections from elected officials and advocates.
Half of the busy roadway received a scaled-down redesign last year. The city initially planned to reduce a lane of traffic in each direction by adding a protected bike lane.
But Mayor Eric Adams reversed the plans after outcry from business owners. The city added a parking-protected bike lane in each direction, and from 7 p.m to 7 a.m. the right lane in each direction turns into a parking lane.
During a call with elected officials on Tuesday, the city announced plans to establish the same configuration for the rest of the roadway, from Calyer Street to Meeker Avenue. The city Department of Transportation confirmed the plan to Gothamist.
“The mayor is putting the lives of Greenpoint residents in danger by failing to make McGuinness safe,” local City Councilmember Lincoln Restler told Gothamist. “We all agree on one thing: that this plan sucks. The mayor has put forward a compromise that nobody likes.”
But city officials said they were optimistic that the plan would be effective.
“This redesign for McGuinness Boulevard will make this corridor much safer for everyone, including drivers, pedestrians and cyclists,” DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone said in a statement. “Based on community feedback, NYC DOT will be extending the protected bike lane from Calyer Street to Meeker Avenue while also delivering a new network of bike lanes, better connecting cyclists to Meeker Avenue and points south, and adding sidewalk extensions at streets intersecting McGuinness Boulevard.”
Some community members said they disagreed with the decision and believed that Adams made it based on the concerns of his adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin and the Argento family, who have opposed street redesign projects in the city. The Argentos also own local film and TV production company Broadway Stages.
“This is just a massive broken promise to our community,” said Kevin LaCherra, an organizer with the group Make McGuinness Safe. “Mayor Adams is prioritizing his relationship with one wealthy donor over the lives of Greenpointers, of families that have to cross the street every single day, of people that have to go to work, of 10,000 people [who] signed in support of a comprehensive plan, of 100 businesses that signed in support of a comprehensive plan.”
Juda S. Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Broadway Stages, described the city's plan as a compromise.
“We always believe that civics requires compromise and that there are varying needs and wants within our community that may differ from one to another," Engelmayer said in a statement. "We agree with limiting a lane from the hours of 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. as well as weekends, but still take issue with the removal of parking which the residents so desperately need."
Calls to the Argento family and Broadway Stages were not immediately returned on Tuesday.
Greenpoint recorded one fatality and more than 150 injuries in traffic crashes from January through July, according to the site NYC Crash Mapper, which tracks collisions across the city.
A coalition of elected officials, including Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Comptroller Brad Lander and Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, called on the mayor to redesign the roadway more thoroughly.
“After repeatedly changing his mind and undermining DOT’s evidence-based redesign, Mayor Adams is going forward with a plan that fails Greenpoint by preserving the most dangerous elements of this roadway that runs through the middle of our community,” they wrote in a joint statement. “We will not stop fighting until we successfully prioritize the safety of our neighbors above all else.”
The DOT said it plans to begin the redesign in September.
Giulia Heyward contributed reporting.
This story has been updated with comment from Juda S. Engelmayer, a spokesperson for Broadway Stages.
Tagged
public safety
brooklyn
Lincoln Restler
Politics
transportation
eric adams
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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